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Hidden Danger: The Threat To America's Networks

December 1, 2008
Right Side News finds this paper from the Lexington Institute provides an excellent overview for all Americans. Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. outlines and explains the threat to our cyber networks as seen yet again in last week's cyber attack on the U.S. military base in Afghanistan where U.S. military officials speculate the cyber attack may have originated in China.

Hidden Danger: The Threat To America's Networks
Lexington Institute
by Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D.

Excerpts below, full paper Click Here

Findings in Brief

Digital networks are the nervous system of our civilization, essential to commerce and culture. The entire economy, from banking to utilities to manufacturing to healthcare, relies on internet-style communications. Even the military has reorganized for what it calls "network-centric warfare."
But the internet empowers everybody, including criminals and foreign governments intent on weakening America. As digital networks have proliferated, so has malicious software designed

to exploit the networks for destructive purposes. Internet predators are increasingly capable and sophisticated.

Cyber threats are now so common that they pose a real danger to national security. Networks must be secured against intrusion, otherwise the nation risks severe economic damage andpotential defeat at the hands of other countries. But the anonymity of the internet impedes efforts to deter and destroy threats.
The federal government has taken a number of steps aimed at combating threats to digital networks, including a Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative launched in 2008. However, the current federal framework for dealing with cyber threats is fragmented, and cannot keep up with emerging dangers.
The new administration will have to determine whether current cyber-security efforts are sufficient, or additional resources are required. It will also have to decide whether the currentfederal framework for addressing cyber threats can do the job, and if not how to tap more agile sources of expertise in the marketplace.
This report provides a concise overview of emerging threats to America's networks and the federal response, highlighting key issues for the new administration. It was written by

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Top Ten Cyber Security Menaces of 2008
(SANS Institute)
1. Web-site attacks on browser vulnerabilities, especially by trusted web sites where users have a high expectation of effective security.
2. Increasingly sophisticated use of "botnets," compromised computers that have been networked for illegitimate purposes without user knowledge.
3. Very large-scale data theft by well-resourced predators, including organized crime syndicates and foreign governments.
4. Attacks on mobile phones, which because of their computing and networking features are susceptible to viruses, worms and other threats.
5. Insider attacks launched by trusted employees, who can circumvent security systems designed to cope mainly with threats from outsiders.
6. Advanced identity theft by persistent botnets, where malicious programs collect personal information over extended periods.
7. Increasingly capable spyware that secretly monitors user online behavior, while protecting itself from detection and deletion.
8. Exploitation of programming errors on web sites, enabling criminals to penetrate organizations and illegitimately generate financial gains.
9. Sophisticated "social engineering" attacks, in which online predators manipulate users into divulging sensitive information by exploiting cognitive biases or characteristics.
10. Supply-chain infection of computers, resulting from unwitting distribution of malicious software by retailers on items such as compact disks and thumb drives.
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